Had a lovely AC in Mark's house to fight off the swealtering heat of the morning. I honestly don't think I would have managed to pack my huge bag again if I was stuck in a sweaty old hotel room!
Somehow I managed to pack the backpack to just under 20kg! Fantastic, no exhorbitant fees for me on the Aer Lingus flight from Gatwick to Dublin.
The Qatar Airways flight back from Dar to London (via Doha) was MUCH nicer than coming over ... for one the flight was empty, so even though I had booked a Fire Exit seat, I moved to one of the central rows with 6 seats and was able to fall asleep stretched out! Fantastic.
This was a truly excellent holiday, even though a rather exhausting one. I got my first glimpse at the "real" Africa, and I tell you I have fallen in love with the place.
I'm certainly going to go back... maybe next year (although the Brazillian guys I work with in Dublin have sold Brazil to me in a big way) .... and when I go I'll take in Uganda or Rwanda and see the gorillas (despite the mucho 
required)
When I arrived home a curious coincidence unfolded. The TV showed a documentary about the recent climb of Kilimanjaro taken by Cheryl Cole et al that was done for Red Nose Day, and the next day there were a series of documentaries and news stories based in Ethiopia (e.g. one doco about the Danakil Depression and a news story as I will explain below...).
Really weird coincidence! But cool also as it brought back a lot of memories.
One of the news stories covered a hydroelectric dam project that is due to take place in Ethiopia. The country desperately needs a solid power grid (as I know only too well), but it seemed that a side-effect was going to be the flooding of the Omo valley which is in the south-west of the country, and the local tribes were up in arms about this.
Now I had met many people while travelling in Ethiopia that told me that I *MUST* go to the Omo valley when I visit Ethiopia next, as I well intend to do, but I just pray that the place isn't a warzone by that stage. Such are the concerns when visiting countries in Africa. I guess I'll have to pack a knife next time I go 
Oh yah .. and a mini-laptop so I can write my bloody blog while actually there!!